By: Sam McClanahan
After a successful opening week to their season, the Pendleton County Wildcats basketball team fell in a mini-slump that saw them drop three straight. However, the team was able to notch their fourth victory over Manchester, OH.
Pendleton County was handed lopsided road defeats to Fleming County and George Rogers Clark. The team traveled to face Fleming County on December 5 and fell 78-47. Fleming County raced out to large first half lead and never looked back en route to the win. Senior Alex Beyst led the Wildcats with 20 points and Austin Kirsch added 12. On December 7, the team ventured south to take on the defending regional champions and state runners up, George Rogers Clark. Once again the Wildcats would fall behind early by a large margin and be able to claw back into it. George Rogers Clark rolled to a 92-47 win.
The Wildcats would end their week with their fourth win of the season as they defeated Manchester, OH 77-43 on December 9 at Mike Murphy Classic held at the Mason County Fieldhouse. Pendleton County jumped out to a 17-6 lead in the first quarter and would lead by 13 points at halftime. In the second half the team expanded their lead as nine different players got into the scoring column. Senior Hunter Cox scored a team-best 22 points and junior Aden Merrill finished with 16. Beyst along with fellow senior Austin Kirsch posted 12 points apiece and freshman Kamden O'Hara swished a three-pointer in the second half to notch his first varsity points.
Following the victory, Wildcats head coach Mason Monroe provided his thoughts on the team through seven games.
"Guys gave great effort and never laid down despite our losses last week. I'm proud of our team staying together and continuing to bring good energy, sharing the ball, and playing the right way even when we faced adversity. We found some things we have to work during that stretch and I think against Manchester it showed these guys are trending in the right direction and eager to fix it. Our seniors are doing a great job leading and again, it showed on Saturday. We have the ability to play and compete. I see it in them. It's a mental thing we are dealing with in regards to slow starts. If we get over that, we will start competing for wins against teams that will play in the regional tournament come March," Monroe said.
The Wildcats will look to build more positive momentum when they travel to Bracken County on December 12 and host Grant County on December 16.